Battery.



No. 880,703. PATENTED MAR. a, 1908. e. M. WEEELEE & H. WILHELM.

BATTERY.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 11. 1907.

VI z'tmesses; 50 Inventors.- X l 62 07 6111 Wee/6rd UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIo GEORGE M. WHEELER AND HENRY WILHELM, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BATTERY.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 3, 1908.

Application filed July 11.1907. Serial No. 3831185.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE M. WHEELER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, and HENRY W1LHELM,& citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn,

- in the county of Kings and State of New is necessary to repair the battery this can he done without destroying the covering or breakingrthe connections between the cells. A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved battery the covering of which may be quickly and readily attached or removed and which covering is simple in construction, inexpensive to manu facture, and inexpensive to attach, as well as durable in use.

Heretofore in the manufacture of pocket batteries, which usually comprise a series of connected cells, three in number, these cells have been inclosed in a pa er wrapper or box open at its top. the space etween the u per ends of the battery and the top edges 0 the box being filled inwith pitch, see a Figure 4 of the drawings, for the p ose of securing the case to the battery as vifdll as the batteries in position in the case. This mode of procedure materially increases the cost of makin the batteries, as the pitch has to be applie in a hot condition, and aside from the cost thereof there is the cost of the gas to keep the pitch in a melted condition. At times the pitch does not readily flow to the outer sides of the contact springs, between them and the Wrapper, and consequently it is necessary to use a blow-p' e to insure the proper flowage of the pitcll, thus requiring time and labor to roperly accomplish the desired result. T e use of this blowipe oftentimes results in the melted pitch owing over the outside of the wrapper, requiring the removal of the wrapper and the ap lication of a new one, and also it frequently lackens the contact springs, which have to be cleaned thus requiring the expenditure of further time, aside from the time and labor required cell;

to pitch each battery. Aside from, and more serious than all the foregoing, whenever the battery proved defective because of a defect in one or more of the cells or in the connection between the cells, in order to remove such defective cell and insert a new one, or remedy the connections; it was neces-, sary to remove all of this pitch, the removal of which not only required time and labor, but frequently broke the connections between the batteries, rendering it impossible to determine whether the defect was due to an improper or broken connection or to some de ect in one or more of the cells. Not only this, but the removal of the pitch also ruined the wrapper, requiring the application of an entirely new wrapper; and when it is remem-' bered that these batteries are manufactured and sold for a few cents, and that the cost of the wrapper is a material item in the cost of manufacture, it will be readily perceived that the disadvantages hereinbefore pointed out in the manufacture of batteries with the old construction of wrap er were many and the construction costly fEom a comparative stand oint. Our present improvement is there ore intended to do away with these disadvantages and to materially lessen the cost of manufacture of the batteries, and to this end, as hereinbefore stated, we have provided a batteryhaving a readily separable wrapper or case in which the use of pitch is entlrely avoided.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of this improved form of pocket battery; Fig. 2 is a side view of the battery cells and spring contacts, with this improved wrap er in position to be folded around the ig; 3 is an enlarged plan view of the wrapper or wrapper blank; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the upper portion of the old style pocket battery, showing at a how the pitch heretofore used was applied between the tops of the cells and the upper edge of the box or case.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the different figures of the. drawings.

In the present improvement we provide a wrapper blank cut in the form in which it is to be used, and comprising a main or central portion 4, having a pair of side extensions or wings '25 and .26 and top and bottom wings 27 and 28. Each of the extensions or wings 25 and 26 is formed by marking or scoring the blank as at 2, 2 and-3, 3 so that when the wrap er is folded the main or central portion 4 WllFfOIIIl one side, with the wings or side extensions 25 and 26 forming a pair of ends 5, 6 and a air of side flaps'7, 8 ada ted to overlap and be pasted or held toget er by means of a label and form the other side 9, Fig. 1. The top and bottom wings 27 and 28 are. also formedby marking the same off from the main ortion or side 4, as at 12 and 13, to enable t e same to be readily folded over the top and bottom of the cells. Each of the top and bottom win s or extensions is provided with a tongue or ap ortion 14 and 15, obtained b marking off t e same, as at 16 and 17. The top flap has cut-away ortions formed by having its two end e ges relatively straight, as at 18 and '19, to permit the contact springs to roject outwardly between the ends 5 and 6 o the wrap er and the end edges of thetop flap 27, W ile its ends at the points of juncture with the side 4 and fia 14 are preferably beveled, as at 23, to faci tate the proper folding of the flap. The lower or bottom wing or flap has its two end portions slitted, as at 20, and marked off in a curved line, as at 21, to enable the tongues 22 so formed to be turned upwardly and pro erly crimped around the curved end wal s of the two outer cells.

It will be noted that in the preferred form shown each wing forming the wings 7 and 8, or top and bottom wings 27 and 28, is in the form of a duplex or two-part flap, that is to say, each is made up of two portions, one extending in one direction and the other in the opposite direction around the battery.

The wrapper or box is usually made of pasteboard or some stiff but flexible material or paper and is assembled in the manner shown in Fig. 2, the top and bottom flaps being first bent in position as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, with the tongues 22 properl folded or crimped around the lower end wall s of the two outer cells and with the flaps 14 and 15 turned toward each other. The wings 7 and 8 are then folded around the cells with the portions 7, 8 overlapping each other and suitably pasted or held in lace by a label the removal of which ena les the wrapper to be quickly removed from the cells and avoids the necessity of the use of pitch to hold the wrapper in place. The marking off of the wings at the points 2 and 3 enables the parts 5 and 6 to properly and readily conform to the curved formation of the end walls of the two outer battery cells, so that when the batter is completed and its protecting wrapper in p ace it presents a neat and compact battery and one which can be readily manufactured without the use of pitch, and therefore without any of the disadvantages hereinbefore pointed out, and at a less cost than heretofore.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we provide an improved pocket battery having a cover of flexible material adapted to conform to the outlines of the cells of such battery and readily attached thereto without the use of pitch, and when attached, enabling the cells to be readily removed therefrom without the destruction thereof, and which wrapper will protect and keep the cells together and adapt them to be readily inserted in the cases now in use carrying the light bulb and the push button, withoutthe necessity of providing a new form of case."

We claim as our invention:

1. A pocket battery comprising a pluralit of cells, and a readily removable wrapper 0 flexible material comprising a central portion having a pair of side extensions folded around said cells to inclose them and also having a top and bottom extension folded over the ends of said cells.

2.- A pocket battery comprising a pluralit of cells, and a readily removable wrapper o flexible material comprising a central ortion having a pair of side extensions f0 ded around said cells to inclose them and also havin a top and bottom extension folded over the ends of said cells, each of said top and bottom extensions having a tab or por tion projecting within said side extensions.

3. A pocket battery comprising a plurality of cells having metallic contacts connected thereto, and a readily removable wrapper of flexible material comprising a central portion havin a pair of side extensions folded around sai also having a top and bottom extension folded over the ends of said cells, said top extension having cut-away portions for the pas sage of said metallic contacts.

4. A pocket battery comprising a pluralit of cells, and a readily removable wrapper o flexible material comprising a central portion having a pair of side extensions folded around said cells to inclose them and also having a top and bottom extension folded over the ends of said cells, said bottom extension having a tab or portion projecting within said side extensions and also having a air of upwardly turned crimped or tonguecl ends projecting within said side extensions.

5. A pocket battery comprising a plurality of cells having metallic contacts, and a readily removable Wrapper of flexible material comprising a central portion having a pair of side extensions each of substantially the same area as said central portion and folded around said cells to inclose them, one side extension overlapping the other, said central portion also having a top and a bottom extension folded over the ends of said cells and each provided with an inwardly projecting tab or portion extending within said side extensions, said top extension having cut-away portions for the passage of said metallic contacts and said bottom extension having a pair of upwardly turned crimped or tonguedends also projecting Within said side extensions.

6. A pocket battery comprising a plurality of cells, and a cover of flexible material bendable around and conforming to the shape of said cells and readily removable therefrom, and comprising a central portion having a pair of side extensions and a top and bottom extension, said top and bottom extensions having infolded portions projecting within said side extensions.

7. A pocket battery comprisin a plurality of cells, and a flexible cover fo ded therearound and conforming to the curved shape of said cells and comprising a central ortion having four extensions, one at eac edge, each of said extensions bendable around a portion of said cells thereby to completely inclose the same.

8. A plcsmket battery comprisin a plural ity of c and a flexlble cover fo ded therearound and conforming to the curved shape of said cells and comprising a central portion having four extensions scored or creased along parts thereof and bendable around a portion of said cells thereby to completely inclose the same.

9. A battery comprising a plurality of cells,

and a flexible cover therefor folded around the cells and conforming-to the curved outlines thereof and readily removable therei S1 ed at 9 to 15 Murray street New York N. Y i

GEORGE M. WHEELER. HENRY WILHELM.

Witnesses:

O. A. WEED F. E. BOYCE. 

